RECORD STORE TALES Part 318: The Last of the Emails
I’ve been sitting on this installment of Record Store Tales for months. I couldn’t post it without heavily editing it. The emails in question are too raw and emotional for me so I had to edit them down for public consumption. But these emails are relevant, as we wind down our story. They highlight exactly how bad it got for me and why leaving was my only option.
The whole ending has been really difficult to finish as it is. I’ve been delaying and delaying, not wanting to look at it. Part of that is the pain associated with the whole period. The other has been that the Record Store Tales have been so fun and I don’t want it to end.
These truly are the last of the emails, the barrel is now all but dry.
9/13/05
Work just called, I FUCKING HATE WHEN WORK CALLS. They lost somebody’s CDs. They were RIGHT THERE yesterday. They ask, “Did you move them?” No, I did not. The only person who could have is you. Now I have THIS to deal with. I’m pissed off that something so simple gets fucked up even though I left everything extremely clear. AND I AM PISSED THAT I WILL CATCH HELL FOR IT! I’m annoyed every day. And I only get one more hour of peace and quiet at home before I have to go in and deal with bullshit for 8 hours. :(
11/25/05
I have to admit that I am depressed today. The idea of dragging my ass to work is killing me. I can’t do another Christmas. I don’t know what to do. I want to quit. Of course I know what a bad idea that is but I’m dying inside. I can’t even eat. I just want to quit, say goodbye, leave, dedicate all my energies to finding a new job. I mean, who am I kidding? Someone calls me for a job, and we play phone tag for days because I’m never home during business hours. And then when do I schedule an interview when I’m always working? It’s impossible. I don’t know what to do.
12/06/05
This has been the worst Christmas season so far, it has been really difficult to put a smile on my face and put any effort into work. I need out so bad.
You can see I was fraying at the ends. It feels like…a different person.
QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS – Live in Ukraine(2009 Hollywood 2 CD/1 DVD set)
The show was dubbed “Life Must Go On”, with funds raised going to AIDS research. Queen had never played in Ukraine before. 350,000 people would be in attendance at the gig, which also functioned as Queen’s tour kick-off. No pressure.
The massive 28 song setlist consisted of Queen classics augmented by Free and Bad Company tunes, and songs from Queen + Paul Rodgers’ studio album The Cosmos Rocks. The stage has two huge screens on the sides, and an even bigger one behind. A taped intro to “One Vision” leads to the band taking over with a rapturous entrance. There is also a center ramp that takes the members right into the crowd. I have always liked Paul’s slant on Freddy’s songs. He’s not the same singer, not in the slightest, so the vocals lines change organically and it works. Unfortunately “One Vision” is shortened so as to lead into “Tie Your Mother Down” which is right up Paul’s alley. Brian and Roger do their share of the backing vocals, and it sounds pretty Queen-like. (The live band is rounded out by longtime sideman Spike Edney (keyboards), Danny Miranda (bass) and Jamie Moses (backing guitar.))
“The Show Must Go On” came early in the set, and Paul really poured everything into it. Even with his “cool biker’ stage look, he had the crowd in the palm of his hands, especially when twirling that mike stand over his head. “Fat Bottom Girls” sounds a little odd without Freddy, but Paul manages. Of course Brian and Roger do their part to help.
I found “Another One Bites the Dust” to stumble awkwardly, as I anxiously awaited the song to end so we can get on with it. “Hammer to Fall” is vastly better, and this flows cleanly into “I Want it All”. Brian smiles away as Paul commands the song in his own way. “I Want to Break Free” works better than you’d think, and Brian’s guitar is sublime.
At this point of the show, Brian introduces Paul to the crowd, who then sings Bad Company’s “Seagull” acoustically. This is a show highlight, as Paul occupies that ramp in the middle of the crowd. Paul then introduces Brian as the “greatest guitar player in the universe” (I won’t argue), who does “Love of My Life” solo acoustically on a 12 string. Brian’s sweet voice is augmented by 350,000 others. Brian then invites Roger and his bass drum up the ramp with him, and they do “’39” together, possibly my favourite Queen song ever. But it’s just a fake-out; Brian invites the backing musicians to join them and “’39” is fully fleshed out. It’s funny seeing all five musicians out on that tiny platform in the middle of the crowd, but what a treat for those down there!
Roger Taylor is left on stage with Danny Miranda, and they proceed to play his electric upright bass with drum sticks. This turns into a medley of famous Queen basslines, all played with sticks. Nonsense aside, Roger is left to solo on his scaled-down portable kit. This jazzy solo is another solo highlight, as Roger demonstrates his underrated skills on the traps. As the solo progresses, his drum tech gradually sets up a full kit around Roger. By the end of it, Roger breaks into “I’m in Love With My Car” with the whole band.
Finally Paul Rodgers returns to the stage for the latter half of “Say it’s Not True”, a stunning ballad for Freddy. Halfway through the set now, and this is the first new song. With Paul back, they decide to do a couple more of his songs: “Shooting Star” and “Bad Company” (Paul on piano for “Bad Company”). Both sound great with Queen; the guys’ backing vocals work perfectly, and the crowd clearly knows them. During “Bad Company”, a slide show of that band runs on the giant screens.
May is front and center for his guitar solo, and the crowd loves every note of it. This solo goes into “Bijou” from Innuendo, featuring the pre-recorded image and voice of Freddy Mercury. This then leads into “Last Horizon” from Brian’s solo album, Back to the Light. Unfortunately this appears to be the part of the show during which one would leave to urinate. “Bijou” and “Last Horizon” are both great, but it’s too much slooow soloing for too long. The bit only starts to come to life when guitarist Jamie Moses joins Brian for a harmony lead.
Paul straps on an acoustic for a laid back version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” which degenerates into guitar noodling. Finally comes Queen’s “new” single “C-lebrity” which is a song I like a lot. It boasts a solid rock riff and a great performance by Paul Rodgers. Bad Company’s “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and the song everyone had been waiting for, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, follow. Both songs fail to really combine the elements of Queen + Paul Rodgers fully. “Feel Like Makin’ Love” is a little too sweet when performed by Queen, and “Bohemian” is done with the recorded image and voice of Freddy singing the song. The crowd doesn’t seem to mind, but it doesn’t work for me. Paul only shows up for the heavy part at the end.
Fortunately one more new song was played: “Cosmos Rockin'”. I wish there were more. Yes there are a lot of songs to be played, but surely a solo could be cut in order to play more new material. It feels as if Queen + Paul Rodgers weren’t even giving the album a chance. It’s not like radio is going to play it, so you have to play it live. The song is well received with the crowd jumping and down. When they sing, “We got the whole house rockin’ to the mighty power of rock n’ roll,” I believe it! They are dancing and going absolutely nuts!
There are only a few “must-plays” left, and undoubtedly “All Right Now” is one of them. Paul Rodgers has certainly lost nothing through the years and that riff sounds great coming from Brian May. And finally, the traditional duo of “We Will Rock You”/”We are the Champions”. I’ve always felt these highschool rally perennials are probably best experienced live. It’s a “had to be there” feeling, since these singalongs are probably more fun to experience than to watch. Although Paul since both songs differently from Freddy, I like his slant on them.
Wikipedia reports (unsourced) that digital download versions of Live in Ukraine contained two bonus tracks: “Radio Gaga” and “A Kind of Magic”. I’ve been searching online for years and I’ve never found them available anywhere, so take that with a grain of salt. Both songs are available live on another Queen + Paul Rodgers album, Return of the Champions. That album has enough different live material from this one, such as “Can’t Get Enough”, “Wishing Well” and “These are the Days of Our Lives”, that both are worth owning.
Helix fans take note, since My Wicked Twin was 3/4 composed of former members of that band. Brent Doerner and his twin brother Brian first joined Helix in 1975-76, and both were members of that band more than once. Brent in particular clocked in a couple decades total in Helix. Brian spent a few years touring and recorded with Saga as well. Joining them on bass is Mike Uzelac aka “Uzi”, who played and wrote on their Capitol Records debut No Rest for the Wicked (1983). None of these guys seemed to have lost anything with the years.
My Wicked Twin evolved from Brent’s first solo outfit, Brent Doerner’s Decibel who released an excellent CD in 2006. From that earlier incarnation comes guitarist/vocalist Shane Schedler, a talented Kitchener-area musician whom I first met back in the 90’s at the old Record Store. Needless to say I’m a little biased when it comes to reviewing these guys. Being objective is the goal, so let’s get on with it!
On first listen it’s clear that Brent has raised the bar. This time there’s more music (12 songs), and it’s noticeably heavier. At the same time it’s also more diverse, and the production is improved.
I need to single out “Maybe Love” as a particularly outstanding track. When I saw them debut it live in ’07 it was obvious what a great song it was going to be. Its evolved into a superior hard rock song with a melodic vocal and a thoughtful lyric. There are top-tier rock bands who don’t put out material as good as “Maybe Love” on their albums. This is a song to be proud of, absolutely. Brent made a pretty cool video for the song too.
Most of the rest of the album is more raw, and more rock. “All The Action”, with its adventurous melodies, is a highlight. “One Big Bad Whoopie” is a lyric in which Brent shows his sly humour, something that comes frequently on this album. “Decibel City Hall” and “Get Your Game On” are fast boogie rockers a-la-Van-Halen-with-Roth. If you’re a hockey fan, you may have heard “Get Your Game On” before the album came out, as the band submitted it to the CBC for their “Write the new Hockey Night In Canada theme song” contest. (I prefer it to the selection they finally picked, but hey, it may be a tad too rock n’ roll for Hockey Night In Canada.)
Other standouts include “The Sting I Need” and “Love is What I Lean On”. “Alone Again, Face to Face” is a nocturnal, sneering rocker. “That Kind of a Love” is a guitar haven within a stunning power ballad. I tend to use the word “epic” a lot, but it does apply here, especially in the middle when it goes all Zeppelin. As one would expect with musicians of this caliber, the playing is more than competent. Brent and Shane weave cool lick after cool lick, while Brian and Mike groove with nuance. While everything is solidly rock n’ roll, the rhythms are not simplistic, and paying attention to the drums will produce many smiles.
Pick up My Wicked Twin’s Decibel Music, if you’re a fan of rock “the way they used to make it”. But give it time to grow on you. Some songs have a lot going on, and not many are instant. Play it a few times. You’ll be glad you found this band. Or, in their words:
“So don’t steal our record, Cause we gotta eat, So buy our record, Satisfies, ’cause we love the taste of meat, We love the taste of meat!”
I’ve seen the juicy ribs Brent eats, so I’m inclined to agree.
There were very few people that I had standing orders to kick out if they ever came into the store. Sure, there were some. The Barefoot DJ was to be kicked out if he ever came in without shoes on his feet. The Creepy Twins, a couple of racist identical twin brothers, were to be kicked out if seen. The one that I remember most clearly was the owner of a rival CD chain. He was notable for his coiffed blonde mane. He looked like he was a member of Def Leppard, and still does to this day. The fear was he would steal ideas for his own store.
That CD chain owner, who I shall dub Mutt Lange, had a longstanding rivalry with my boss, the owner of our stores. Mutt seemed like a total douche. Just a pompous ass. When we first started out, we based our pricing scheme on Mutt’s own catalog. He published an annual catalog, which we bought several copies of each year. When we first started creating our own price database, we used Mutt’s as the starting point. That really would have chapped Mutt’s ass if he had known. I was even sent into Mutt’s locations to buy the newest catalog. They needed to send someone that wasn’t recognizable.
I recall not really being into Mutt’s stores. I don’t remember ever buying anything there besides the catalogs. T-Rev found some old Saga CDs there, but it wasn’t really my kind of place. A lot of cheap mainstream “Super Saver” CDs, but not a lot of the stuff I was looking for. The catalog was useful, because it not only indicated retail prices, but would tell us if an album was still in print (or not).
My boss also checked out Mutt’s website regularly. I learned a valuable lesson there.
“Look at this,” my boss said while loading up Mutt’s site. “This hasn’t changed in three years. His site is exactly the same. He hasn’t added anything, he hasn’t changed format, or changed the look at all. It looks like a place that isn’t even in business anymore.” That was a good point, so when we started up our own site, he made sure we gave it a good solid revamp semi-regularly. They’d change the graphics, the layout, and the way the search engines worked. That was probably the best lesson that I learned about e-commerce. Keep changing things up. People have short attention spans, but if it looks like your store is defunct, they’ll probably assume it is.
Back to Mutt himself – I recall seeing that blonde mane walk through my doors one summer day. It was actually T-Rev’s doors; I was filling in for him while he was helping to build a new store. And yeah, I had to kick him out! Not a fun experience I wanted to repeat!
Why did Tonic never make it big? Maybe they didn’t have enough of their own identity, maybe it was the 90’s, maybe it was the “one hit wonder” stigma. Whatever it was, I tweaked onto this band in April of ’96 thanks to a positive review in the Kitchener-Waterloo Record (probably by Robert Reid). I thought their modern rock take on their classic roots was interesting and full of integrity. Indeed, this band didn’t seem to be about following the flavour of the week, but by reaching back to 70’s rock roots in a modern context.
Sugar, the second album, was the one where it all came together. Not one weak track on the whole bloody CD. The slow songs are sweeter, the hard songs are angrier. Something must have happened to Emerson Hart to really tick him off. Girl problems. From “Knock Down Walls”: “So don’t tell me that I’ve gone crazy, you’re the one who tried to fucking change me…” Emmerson also begs the question, “Why do you have to be so fucking mean to me?” on the track “Mean To Me”.
Whatever his inspiration, the anger struck a chord with me. Yet the slow songs like “Waltz With Me” were beautiful, gorgeous, full of love. It’s not a heavy album, but it rocks and has a level of quality that was often absent in the mainstream rock music of the late 90’s. Sugar is loaded with layers of electric, slide and acoustic guitars, great drumming, great singing, and relatable lyrics. The songs themselves are packed with variety and quality. Really, this should have been a huge album in 1999, and the biggest hit of Tonic’s career, but they were never trendy. Shame. They deserved more than the one hit.
Highlights: The whole album, but I especially love “Drag Me Down”, “Mean To Me”, “Knock Down Walls”, “Sugar”, “Future Says Run”, “Waiting For The Light To Change”.
AC/DC – Back In Black (originally 1980, 2004 Epic DualDisc)
How many times have I bought Back in Black? How many times have you bought it? I know that I purchased it on CD first in 1990, and then four more times since. I currently own two copies: this DualDisc, and the one that came in the Bonfire box set. I don’t think I have it on vinyl, but I could be wrong. The DualDisc has a DVD side with some neat stuff including a documentary.
“The Story of Back In Black” begins in 1979, with Highway to Hell, fame and glory. New interviews with all five AC/DC members (Angus & Malcolm Young, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd and Brian Johnson) provides a little bit of insight. We all know the story: February 19 1980, the death of Bon Scott, and the brave decision to carry on have become rock legend. But according to Angus, it was Malcolm who kept the band playing, if only to distract them from the pain of their loss. The band continued to jam and write without a singer, but producer Mutt Lange knew of one from a band called Geordie. Brian recalls a hilarious story of being invited to audition for the band. He went down to London and played “Whole Lotta Rosie” with AC/DC for the first time. They then went to the Bahamas with Mutt to record.
The band tells the stories behind several songs: “Hells Bells”, “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, “Back in Black”, and “Shoot to Thrill”, while Angus and Malcolm demonstrate the riffs up close. Brian reveals “Back in Black” was a challenge, since it was intended as a tribute in song to Bon. No small feat to get the mood right. The 30 minute mini-doc ends with Back in Black selling 10 million copies. I guess they got it right!
You know the songs. You’ve heard ’em the radio, seen ’em on the video, hummed them in your sleep. “Hells Bells” is one of those archetypal AC/DC songs. When one pictures the “ominous AC/DC headbanger” song, “Hells Bells” should certainly come to mind. Then you can get your stompin’ shoes on for “Shoot to Thrill”. I do miss Bon Scott’s sly playfulness, but there’s nothing wrong with Brian Johnson’s full-speed-ahead screech either. “What Do You Do For Money Honey” is as catchy today as it was then, and has the benefit of being one of the songs that doesn’t get played every single day on the radio. I’m not as burned out on it. Same with “Givin the Dog a Bone”, but on that song all I can do is wonder what Bon would have done with that groove.
One truly outstanding track is the last song on side one, “Let Me Put My Love Into You”. Yes, that title is hardly clever. But the song kicks ass all over the place. It’s one of those late night prowls that AC/DC do so well, and it perfectly closes the first side.
The title track opens the second side with a bang. Then “You Shook Me All Night Long”, a classic that also needs no introduction. If you don’t know this song then you probably don’t listen to rock music. I can’t add anything to the discussion there.
“Have A Drink On Me” and “Shake A Leg” are both fine AC/DC songs. Nothing wrong with ’em, nothing exceptional about them. Thankfully they saved one of the best songs for last: “Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”. This has been my favourite track since first getting the album 24 years ago. It’s an anthem, the kind of thing we can all agree on. Rock and roll ain’t noise pollution, baby. I’ll drink to that.
I don’t think Back In Black is the best AC/DC album, but it might be the best Brian Johnson album. It’s certainly the most important AC/DC album historically, and it’s a must for any serious rock fan to own. Choose your format according to your own wishes, but this DualDisc edition satisfies me fine.
4/5 stars
For those times when you can’t use the internet to tell you what songs are on what albums.
Happy Anniversary to my beautiful soul mate Jennifer. Every day gets better and better, and you look younger and younger! I don’t know how you do it. Meanwhile I’ve turned into a grey-bearded old man with a bad back and lactose intolerance, and you still keep me around! Must be love. It’s the only possibly explanation why you live in a house full of Transformers, CDs, and records.
The last six years have been the happiest of my life. Thank you for being the puzzle piece that was missing all that time.
Love you, sweetie. Here’s one of the songs we danced to six years ago, on the best day of my life.
MARK ST. JOHN – Magic Bullet Theory (2003 Loch Ness Monster Records)
Mark St. John (1956-2007) is best remembered as the lead guitarist on Kiss’ 1984 Animalize album. He was however much more than just a Kiss guitarist. His exotic shredding was the basis of an instrumental solo album, Magic Bullet Theory. Thanks Lemon Kurri for hooking me up with this CD.
“AWOL” blasts the doors open wide: high-octane tempo, high-speed shred, high-tech tricks. There are Yngwie-like moments, Van Halen harmonics but also enough melody and song structure to keep it interesting. Mark’s solos feature a number of different sounds and styles. Intricate flamenco and electric guitars open the title track “Magic Bullet Theory”. Then it turns into a melodic instrumental with lead guitar center stage. Next, out of left-field comes the jazz workout of “Bourbon Street”. This delicate number features non-stop jazz guitar shredding, full speed ahead, which some will find to be just too much to absorb. “Too many notes,” some might say. I am not one who would say that.
It’s back to instrumental heavy metal with “Slave Driver”, which reminds me of Yngwie’s “Leviathan”. “Utopian Trip” is more laid back, and I can hear mandolin on this one. Mark lays a blistering lead guitar line over the largely acoustic track. “Communicator” offers plenty more shred, perhaps resembling the high pitched screech of some 60’s sci-fi communication device. “Baghdad” has guitars that sound like air raid sirens, certainly appropriate given the title. But the song itself is Arabic is style, with a lot of very complicated acoustic guitars.
“Wait No More” is more melodic instrumental hard rock, but with complex rhythms and tricks aplenty. “Between the Lines” is ballad-like, with layers of shimmering guitars,until the song gives way to a nice rock riff. This is of course accentuated by plenty of lead and melody guitars. Finally “The Lone Gunman” closes the album on a heavy note. (Notice how this title ties in with “Magic Bullet Theory”.) The is a riffy track, which frankly the album could have used more of. It’s also the longest song on the album, and probably the most epic emotionally.
Although Magic Bullet Theory is not as song-oriented as I prefer instrumental albums to be, it has plenty of memorable moments and tracks. It certainly shows off the talent that Mark had, that the world doesn’t know enough about. Magic Bullet Theory comes recommended to all dyed-in-the-wool Kiss fans, and those who enjoy intelligent shreddery.
3/5 stars
…But wait, it’s not over! After a five minute silence is an unlisted classical guitar rough recording, melodically lovely and astonishingly fast! A nice coda.
What the hell? It’s not April 1. Are you on the wrong site?
Nope, it’s me, LeBrain. And today we’re going to be talking about a Snoop Lion movie. Snoop Lion, aka the artist formerly known as Snoop Dogg.
It may surprise you to learn that Snoop Dogg/Lion entertains me. It was one of my old staff guys, Matty K, who exposed me to Snoop’s music. I enjoyed the humour in the lyrics and his smoove voice. He’s funny. And, let’s face it, who didn’t think he kicked ass as Huggy Bear in Starsky and Hutch?
Reincarnated is a documentary that chronicles Snoop’s transformation from gangsta to peaceful Rasta. This process included a visit to Jamaica, to record his first ever Reggae album (Reincarnated) with such talented artists as Bunny Wailer, Damien Marley and Stewart Copeland of The Police. (Snoop: “We got the drummer from The fuckin’ Po-lice!”) He also had the last surviving Wailer. The creative process of the album is observed, and it’s always fascinating to me, to watch songs evolve. Snoop’s singing voice does well with Reggae. He is a natural fit, and he had some damn good guidance there in Kingston.
Snoop discusses his early adult life as a pimp bluntly and honestly, but says that he wasn’t comfortable with that lifestyle and image any longer after his friend Tupac Shakur was killed. The night Tupac died is described in full detail; a heavy moment in the film. After this, Snoop decided on a change of lyrical direction, under the guidance of Master P of No Limits records. Louis Farrakhan became a guiding force to Snoop at this time, and Snoop was inspired by the Nation of Islam to clean up his act. The process of transformation led him to many moments of epiphany, but the death of his friend Nate Dogg in 2011 really hit him hard.
I won’t lie to you, there’s a shit-ton of weed in this movie. One memorable scene involves a trip up a mountain with some local Rastas (where they grow the herb) to smoke the herb. While climbing down the mountain, Snoop’s cousin falls down laughing, and can barely stand, having smoked so much. You will even see Bunny Wailer smoking a pipe made out of a carrot, I shit you not. It’s there, it’s part of it. If that’s not something you need to see, fair enough.
As fascinating, sincere and transformative the movie seems, I did wonder if Snoop has maintained his Rasta values and practices? Or if this too was a phase? In researching for this review I found that Bunny Wailer has since accused Snoop of “outright fraudulent use” of Rastafari. This issue comes up in the film itself in a segment with Bunny. He does not seem to like the commercialization of Rastafarian culture, through popular music, images and style. It seems that since the movie, he lumps Snoop into that category.
Be that as it may, I’m only going to review the film, regardless of that controversy. I enjoyed it, quite a bit actually, and I’m putting the album on my Amazon wishlist.
mikeladano.com 